After practicing on gravel roads, my son-in-law finally convinced me to hit the trails with him. He has a 2-stroke YZ250 all tweaked out, but I was able to follow at my own pace. I have to say, I think I get it now. It was so much fun!! However, my arms are wrecked. I am going to have to take baby steps into this. But I did install the new handlebars (beware of the controls on the left side of the hawk..there is a thingy that fits into a hole on the stock bars that will annoy the hell out of you). Also, I installed the replacement shifter, which was a big improvement - still easy to get to and out of the way, so my boots don't accidentally hit it. I gained some skills today, and I plan to go back to it gradually as my body adapts. But man, it was FUN.
